Could not open COM, port busy or does not exist

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

Apologies in advance for what I'm sure is a beginners question.

New install of Arduino IDE 2.3.6 with Adafruit ESP32-S3 TFT. I believe install is correct as per the many (different!) install instructions online. CH343SER driver installed, though not totally clear if this was required or not.

Error reports:

esptool.py v4.8.1
Serial port COM2

A fatal error occurred: Could not open COM2, the port is busy or doesn't exist.
(Cannot configure port, something went wrong. Original message: PermissionError(13, 'A device attached to the system is not functioning.', None, 31))

Failed uploading: uploading error: exit status 2

COM2 is indeed port board is connected to, as confirmed in Device Manager - although lists as USB Serial Device (COM2)

COM2 is not in use elsewhere as confirmed with Process Explorer

Tools/Port lists COM2 as well as correct board

TIA

2

Verify:
IDE >> TOOLS >> BOARD >> esp... your board
IDE >> TOOLS >> PORT >> your port
And, that your USB cable is for data.

3

Yep, as stated above board and port appear correctly:
Board: Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT
Port: COM2 (Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT)

Cable tested as data cable

4

Looks like a driver issue while communicating with the board. I'd try uninstalling the driver and installing it again, but first of all make sure you install the latest drivers from a reliable source.

But googling around I also found this:

this error can also occur when uploading to the boards that use specific batches of the WCH CH340 USB chip. The problem only occurs when using the versions of the CH340 driver from 2023 and after.

Is that ESP32 board new, meaning you've never programmed it, or did it work for you before and now it's starting with that error when uploading? What happens if you just open the Serial Monitor?
And when you say it's a "New install" do you mean it worked for you with a previous version?

5

I have no experience with your board.

Your ultimate installation guide should be https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-esp32-s3-tft-feather?view=all; I did not fully read it.

Where did you find the information that states that you need that driver. Looking at the schematic of your board there is no CH... IC.

The product page also indicates that the board has native USB which would exclude the need for the CH... driver.

How does Windows Device manager state about the VID and the PID of the board? You can find it in the details tab as shown below

image
image510×568 30.3 KB

The image is for a clone Nano with CH340 IC.